More Tokyo Highlights

Much drinking and bonding with old Japanese geezers around beer and yakitori in the dark confines of Shinjuku’s seediest Golden Gai and Shouben Yokochou’s 6-seater bars. Learning outrageously offensive Japanese war songs (unfortunately forgetting most of it amidst next day’s hangover).

Going dancing in the middle of Tokyo typhoon #4. In fact a pretty mediocre Dubsteps/Drum’n’Bass party with few dance-friendly melodies and much drug-friendly excruciatingly boring bass lines (god, I hate hardcore Drum’n’Bass). Had fun with friends nonetheless. Woke up to torrential rain, earthquake shakes and some wonders about a possibly upcoming end of the world. BTW, am I the only one to have noticed how often earthquakes seem to occur concurrently with typhoons, no matter how scientifically implausible such a connection sounds? Or am I just high? Or both?

Went and saw a movie at Tokyo’s one and only Lesbian & Gay Film Festival with Eriko. Had pictures taken by the official event photographer of myself mingling at the pre-screening party amidst Eriko and her lesbian friends. Expecting to see them plastered all over next year’s official website, if not before. Not sure how that might help my style with the ladies. Not that I looked gay or anything: I was wearing that very manly embroidered white silken shirt and tight-fitting designer jeans.

House party at Klaus’ with twenty-some attendees, each speaking over 2 or 3 languages, none the same two: nearly sounds like a math problem. Ate Asparagus pizza. Examined the spirit of Japan with drunken Japanese boys. Sorta missed my last train and had to go beg for shelter in the neighbourhood.

Apparently acceptable topics for hairdresser smalltalk in Japan include: how long have you been in Japan, do you like Japanese food, do you like natto. Oh yea, also: what do you think of Japanese girls’ small breasts.

Cultural exchange night leading to witnessing a demonstration in the interesting art of traditional Shibari. I think I really want to learn now. If anything, such knowledge could only come handy, were I to take on boat sailing one day.

Spent Friday night’s 1am-5am slot playing pool and ping-pong at Muse with Fred and Mariko, in between two tequila shots. Accidentally witnessed our first ever poolball-equipped cat-fight (meowwr). Sighed once more at the irritatingly crass manners of the sleazy eurotrash frequenting the place.

Met Trent, 250+ pounds US serviceman apparently back from a very good time in the neighbourhood, desperately trying to stand straight while waiting for the first subway of the morning. Literature connoisseur if there ever was one, Trent was so excited to meet a fellow book reader, that he earnestly tried to engage me into discussing our common appreciation for such. As the short conversation that ensued was to reveal, Trent loves “Harry Potter books, because of, y’know, all the fuckin’ magic and shit”. And so does his petty officer, as well as most of his unit. (and to think that what Republican wingnuts are most concerned about is: gays in the military). Trent then proceeded to lay down on the edge of the platform for a quick nap .

Top 3 Reasons why Theo Parrish has now ascended to my personal Pantheon of Electronic Music Gods, secondary to last Saturday’s set at Yellow:

3) Segueing seamlessly from minimal pounding techno tracks into bouncy old-school jazzy funk. And back. And again. And so on… For most of the night.

1) Dropping around 4am, in the middle of his 8h-long set, the entire motherfucking Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. Not a remix, not a sped-up version, not some fucking lame-ass p-diddy rap cover: the one, original, unedited song. From start to finish. And having people go nuts and dance over it like it’s the latest techno shit from Detroit.

Right up there with all the other House gods, I tell you.

Ate the best burritos I had in a long time. Possibly since I last set foot in California. Thanks Aileen!

Quiet dinner-and-a-movie with Atsushi, Fred, Yi, Jun & Nordine didn’t really go as planned (do they ever?). Not much dinner to speak of, very little DVD-watching either, but much beer, homemade Moroccan cookies and French dry sausage swiftly took everyone to last train territories. Homemade curry will be for next time.

On the map for the near future: many restaurant outings, art exhibits checking, concerts hopping, beach party dancing (and a 2h set I might be playing in two weeks), fireworks watching, beer drinking, matsuri attending… as well as much unforeseen stuff, hopefully !

What? The highlights above? oh, this is only a small subset of past two weeks’ activities, after skimming through work stuff and other topics that were deemed unfit for a young impressionable audience 🙂

I stay alive through lots of water and occasional 5am ramen. Sanity’s never been firmly established to begin with.

Hey, I only get 3 months to fit it all. I will sleep on the plane back.